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May: RISE UP

by Family and Community SupportNews and Events

In July 2024, RISE UP — Center for Family Life’s Family Enrichment Center — was launched with funding from the Administration for Children’s Services.

As the only Family Enrichment Center in Sunset Park, RISE UP offers a welcoming, safe space where community members can connect, access resources, support one another, and collaborate to build a stronger, more united community. 

For this edition of Stories from the Field, we’re celebrating some of RISE UP’s major accomplishments within their first year, including the completion of the Mural Art Co-design Project and the Weaving Connections exhibition that’s on display at Café Nube from now through August 15th!

RISE UP Mural Art Co-design Project

A guiding principle at RISE UP is to be led by community members who share a positive vision for the neighborhood. In fact, even the space of RISE UP itself was co-designed with community members who discussed everything from the color of the walls to the snacks regularly on hand. 

Most recently, over the course of six co-design sessions, 17 community members of different ages, languages, and cultures came together to co-design a mural in RISE UP’s space. They thought through various creative prompts provided by RISE UP such as “If Sunset Park were a relic in a museum, what would it be?” and wrote postcards to their future selves.

By engaging in weekly exercises individually and then sharing their stories collectively, community members quickly realized how the most beloved aspects of Sunset Park vary across generations. Some honored long-lost storefronts, while others celebrated graffiti that is in the neighborhood today. Every cherished memory or location in Sunset Park, however, highlighted the intergenerational and multicultural vibrancy within our community. 

Many thanks to RISE UP participants and staff, facilitating artist Yukiko Izumi, assisting artist Ji Yong Kim, and volunteers for all your hard work on the mural! 

Weaving Connections Exhibit at Cafe Nube 

From now through August 15th, we invite you to visit Weaving Connections, a RISE UP community weaving exhibition co-created by Sunset Park neighbors in collaboration with local art therapist Sara Rothstein and artist assistant Emily Walker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The exhibition is on view at Café Nube (940 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232), and we encourage you to look at this year-long project community members made together. Please also support Café Nube, a local and family-owned business, with a light bite or drink as well!

To stay up to date with RISE UP, please follow us on Instagram at @RISEUPSunsetPark!

SIS staff

April: Support in Schools

by Family and Community SupportNews and Events

Center for Family Life’s Support in Schools (SIS) program is wrapping up its first successful year in Sunset Park!

SIS is a Center for Family Life school-based early support initiative in partnership with NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services. We’re honored to be one of eleven organizations across the five boroughs that provides family counseling and case management services inside schools.  

Our SIS teams — counselors, advocates, and benefit specialists — partner closely with DOE staff and CFL afterschool programs to identify students facing social, emotional, or academic challenges, and work to stabilize and strengthen families. 

SIS has already accomplished so much within its first year in 10 partner schools throughout Districts 15 and 20. Over 130 families have received emotional wellness and trauma-informed support from our Spanish and Mandarin-speaking counselors, and 40 families have gained access to vital economic support services through our bilingual benefit specialists.  

By serving as a bridge connecting families from schools within Districts 15 and 20 to CFL’s main office, SIS has also introduced neighbors to the full range of resources available to them via CFL — including ESOL classes or fresh produce through our food pantry.

                                                        Celebrating care closets in District 20

Each of our five schools in District 20 now has a fully stocked “care closet” with clothing, hygiene items, food, school supplies, laundry detergent, and laundromat cards — available discreetly for any student or family in need.  

We are deeply grateful for the trust and support of our school communities and CFL’s Support in Schools. It is a privilege to continue to build upon the relationships that CFL’s afterschool programs have established in Sunset Park schools. Together, we are building a compassionate and capable team and bringing CFL’s vision to life: partnering with schools to empower families and help them thrive in Sunset Park. 

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Save the Date: The Extra Mile 2025

by News and EventsYouth and Community Development & School Partnerships
RSVP & PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

We are delighted to announce that we will be holding our annual staff recognition Extra Mile event in-person on Tuesday, June 10th, from 6-8pm at L’Wren in Sunset Park, Brooklyn!

Please join us here in Sunset Park to celebrate Center for Family Life’s “Life Lines” partnership with public schools, MS 136 and MS 821. Our unique collaboration engages students in interdisciplinary projects that blend academic subjects with the arts to build community in the classroom and enrich student learning.

We are grateful for this partnership and are excited to recognize the MS 136 and MS 821 principals and our Life Lines teaching artists. We look forward to celebrating decades of creative collaboration!

Watch our “A Reflection on 40 Years | Life Lines Community Arts Project Documentary” above to learn more about our partnership which has spanned four decades. 

RSVP & PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

You can purchase tickets for the event by clicking the button above or by visiting this website. 

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March: Tax Season

by Economic Well-being ProgramsNews and Events

For over twenty years, Center for Family Life has been providing free tax-filing assistance to our neighbors in Sunset Park via the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, and our usually busy tax season hasn’t shown any signs of slowing!

As a VITA site, CFL has certified volunteer and staff tax preparers on hand to assist those who are eligible for VITA in filing their taxes.

Juan Obando, CFL’s VITA Tax Manager, conducts extensive outreach each year to recruit volunteer tax preparers. In addition to recruiting via NYC Service and NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Juan and his tax team have successfully secured partnerships with Fordham University, Kingsborough Community College, NY Cares, and Royal Business Bank to solicit volunteers. All volunteers receive thorough tax-preparation trainings and must acquire their official IRS Tax Certification before working as tax preparers.

A client with Juan Obando

This year, we’ve been lucky to have fifty-seven tax preparers support us in filing nearly three thousand returns, yielding over four million dollars in refunds! Thank you to all our CFL staff and volunteers who help make this program possible. The funds our neighbors receive in returns can be crucial for them to make rent, pay bills, or buy groceries.

A tax preparer working with a client

Indeed, Juan has emphasized it is the ability to “help someone get the most money in a year, and hearing [our clients’] stories” which has been the most meaningful to him in his two decades of providing tax-free filing assistance professionally.

If you qualify for free tax preparation, we encourage you to make an appointment with us. More information on eligibility and appointments is outlined below.

Alternatively, if you have the means and are able to support our tax-filing assistance program, please consider donating to Center for Family Life today.

Interested in making an appointment?

In 2024, if your income was up to $65,000 as an individual — or up to $93,000 as a family — you are eligible for free tax filing services.

Appointments are available at CFL’s main office from 11am to 7pm on Mondays through Fridays, as well as on Saturdays from 9am to 4pm.

An appointment can also be made at our partner NYU Langone location — which is located on Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park — on Tuesdays through Thursdays between 12pm and 7pm.

Make an appointment with us today at either Center for Family Life’s main office or at our NYU Langone location. 

 
Filing and Self-Employed?

If you work for yourself as a freelancer, gig worker, or small business owner, you need to file taxes annually and make estimated payments quarterly.

Our tax preparers through our Self-Employed Tax Program (SETP) are here to help; book an appointment with someone from our team today.

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February: College, Career & Community Building Day

by News and EventsYouth and Community Development & School Partnerships

On February 6th, 2025, Center for Family Life hosted our 16th annual College, Career & Community-Building (CCC) Day at Sunset Park High School.

CCC Day provides 1300+ SPHS students of all grades with engaging and informative experiences to support their college and career readiness and to strengthen their relationships within the school community. This year’s CCC Day included college panels, college jeopardy, career conversations, and team building activities.

College Panels for 10th-12th graders featured 21 college students, most of whom were SPHS alumni. The panelists provided inspiration and personal anecdotes while answering questions from current SPHS students about their experiences in college.

College Jeopardy challenged teams of 9th graders to pool their current knowledge in a spirited game while introducing them to new information about the college application process.

Career Conversations engaged the entire SPHS student body in small group discussions with a record number of 86 volunteer career guests. Our guests introduced students to career options in law, health, entertainment and the arts, human services, and technology. We were so honored that five SPHS alumni joined us as career guests this year!

Hear what students learned from career conversations, in their own words:

          “There are a lot of unique jobs you can choose from.”

          “It is ok to not know what you are going to do after high school.” 

          “When you get to college, your career ideas might change, and that is ok.” 

          “Do something that makes you happy and you’re passionate about.”

Students were also refreshed by the career guests’ positive energy, noting:

          “It was great seeing how career guests genuinely enjoy their jobs.”

          “They highlighted the vast opportunity the world has to offer.” 

          “They asked questions and genuinely wanted to hear our opinions.” 

          “They gave REAL advice that was actually good.” 

Thank you again to our wonderful career guests, who braved traveling on a snowy morning in February to participate in CCC Day.

Community-Building in the gym brought out the fun spirit of SPHS students and teachers as they joyfully participated in small group challenges. Contagious laughter and cheering echoed through the halls and capped off an action-packed day at Sunset Park High School

We are grateful to the college panelists, career guests, students, and CFL and SPHS staff who made this year’s CCC Day so successful and special!